Mosquito/bug repellant

[shootingstar]

What is your go-to mosquito repellant? After the flood waters receded, now there's a big problem of alot more mosquitoes in our area because of more standing water/pools. I live near a major river with grasses, bushes, etc.

Bites for me, tend to double in size. And for whatever reason, mosquitoes are more attracted to me than other folks. A perpetual problem with me, that I don't enjoy camping in deep wilderness.

[NbyNW]

I tend to attract mosquitos as well. I've heard that can sometimes be related to blood type.

I hate wearing chemical insect repellents. Instead, I choose to eat lots of garlic.

Also, there is clothing that has repellent embedded in the fiber, the fabric is called Insect Shield. It's sold under a number of different brand names, but I don't think it's available in Canada. I don't think you can even purchase it online from a US site and have it shipped. I tried to buy some when it was bug season in Edmonton and found that I just had to wait until my next trip to the US to get it. When I go camping, I always bring a jacket and pants that convert to shorts made of this stuff. I have found it works pretty well.

[OakLeaf]

Bite Blocker (http://www.biteblocker.com/) or Bug Band (http://bugband.net/) (the spray, not the wristband). Both of them are based on soybean and geraniol, and they work very well. I'm a total mosquito magnet, too, if I'm on the premises no one else has to worry about mosquitoes, but either of those will keep them away. Never had a bite as long as I keep them applied ... DEET you can go longer between applications, but toxic or not, you have to worry about it melting all your stuff. The ONLY advantage DEET has over the less toxic stuff and less corrosive stuff is that you can go longer between sprays.

With the caveat that soybean/geraniol isn't rated for ticks, I've had three ticks crawling on me and one bite this year, and every one was when I had *not* put on the bug spray, so I tend to believe they repel ticks as well. Deer flies, which are the biggest problem in daylight hours here, they definitely repel.

I think there's a reason you can't import the permethrin-infused clothing into other countries ... I wouldn't have it touching my skin. :eek:

[shootingstar]

The thought of use DEET makes my skin crawl, though I have used it the past.

Deer flies --ugh. And they hurt!

So I appreciate these recommendations so far.
After all day long bike touring rides, I've donned light wind pants and long sleeved shirt in 30 C degree with 100% humidity summer weather in the woods. It drives me nuts and makes me...hot, miserable. But I will do it for sanity... :( For some of us, it must be the unique odors of how our body breaks down food, enzymes that makes us so attractive to the critters.

[goldfinch]

Deet. I am in tick country. Just about everyone I know here has had Lyme disease.

[Jolt]

Repel Lemon Eucalyptus is pretty good, if you'd rather use something more natural rather than DEET. That's what I usually use and have had good experiences with. I will use DEET if I am somewhere that there are lots of really bad mosquito borne diseases (like my trip to Kenya a few years ago) but usually prefer to avoid it. Also going to try the Badger anti-bug stick this year and see how that is.

[OakLeaf]

Garments does remind me though ... before I discovered the repellents I use now, mostly I'd just wear a lightweight spun polypro painter's coverall. You can get them for $10 or so at the home improvement store. They breathe reasonably well, although obviously they're hotter than bare skin, and because they fit so loosely, nothing can bite through them. Make sure to get the kind with elastic wrists and ankles, wear a hat, and then you only have to worry about your hands, face and neck. And if it's warm weather, make sure to get spun polypro, not Tyvek, which is more durable and more protective against chemicals but doesn't breathe.

Looks a little weird, but any time I'm not being drained dry by mosquitoes or getting 3" welts left on me by flies, I'm happy.

Then there are these mesh garments. http://bugbaffler.com/products.htm I had something similar years ago. These look a bit nicer plus they're USA made. It was definitely more breathable and more durable than the painter's coveralls, though still hotter than bare skin. The pants seams did rip out eventually, but mine was just slightly small on me - better fitting might have lasted longer.

[emily_in_nc]

I hate DEET but like Avon Skin So Soft Plus with Picaridin. It worked in Belize against the prolific mozzies and no-see-ums. It does have to be re-applied a bit more often than DEET-containing repellents, though. You can find it on Amazon or Ebay.

[roo4]

I use DEET, but here is Consumer Report's take.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/08/best-insect-repellents/index.htm

[OakLeaf]

That's interesting on two counts. It verifies my impression that Bite Blocker does repel ticks (for 7 hours!) and that it's as effective as long as DEET on Culex mosquitoes - the primary vector for WNV - but only for 3 hours against Aedes mosquitoes, the primary vector for EEE. So I guess it might depend partially in which disease(s) are prevalent in your area, but personally, I don't like anything on my skin that wouldn't sweat off after three hours, even if it's completely inert. I just don't see what the big deal is about having to spray yourself every two or three hours.

[Koronin]

I am another one that mosquitos love (along with spiders) and the bites will double or triple in size within minutes. I use OFF when I use anything. I just need to remember to use it when I go to the one nursery to look at plants because I ALWAYS get bitten while I'm there. (They are one of the best in the area and offer a large variety of local plants, along with other plants that will survive in this area, but are not invasive.

[OakLeaf]

Here is EWG's bug repellent guide (http://www.ewg.org/research/ewgs-guide-bug-repellents/ewg-repellent-guide). Short version: you're taking your chances no matter what you do. Learn what species of bugs and what diseases are prevalent in your area, and select your repellent accordingly. The full report is much more instructive than the at-a-glance guide that I've linked to.


I found out the hard way yesterday that Bite Blocker is only partially effective on Asian tiger mosquitoes (the aggressive daytime ones). The good news is I don't often go places where they're prevalent - so I'll continue to use Bite Blocker for ticks, flies and evening mosquitoes. But, sigh...

[Pace]

I have a Columbia Insect Shield shirt that supposedly works - I haven't actively noticed any bites when I'm wearing it, although I did watch a lady bug land on the brand lettering on my shoulder one day. ;)

But I have used Sawyer's various repellents with pretty good luck. They do have a gear-safe permethrin spray that works well on camping gear. I like their picaridin formula since it has less alcohol, which means your skin doesn't dry out as much and absorb the DEET. From what I've heard, their bug repellant lotion is supposed to be the best form of application, since it stays on top of your skin (rather than being absorbed like sprays and other alcohol-rich alternatives) and is spread more evenly. Lotions tend to have one of the longest retention rates also, so you shouldn't need to reapply as often.

[Crankin]

I use DEET, too. I've tried some of the others and even the Picaridin doesn't work for me. I live in an area that is full of deer ticks and 2 people in my neighborhood have progressive Lyme Disease; i.e. they got bitten back in the day and never got treatment until it was too late. One was an MIT prof who pretty much lost a lot of his cognitive ability. I'll take my chances.
I avoid the local trails at this time of the year, except for one that is wide and the foliage doesn't touch you. I got a tick bite last year. My DH found a tick, engorged, on my back, 2-3 days after I had hiked with a client. He got it off, but I did go to the doctor, who put me on a 3 day course of antibiotics. I generally don't go out riding when mosquitos are around, but they do spray here. When I was up in NH last weekend, there were lots of black flies at one point in the ride, which had me wishing I had put some repellent on. I did use it on a hike the next day, and it was a good thing. There were tons of mosquitos, flies, and various other nasty flying things.

[OakLeaf]

Oxybenzone (ingredient in some sunblocks) and DEET potentiate skin absorption of each other, whereas picaridin and oxybenzone absorption is unchanged or even inhibited when used together. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21155391

The EWG piece is really worth reading, because it highlights how "what's the best insect repellent?" is the same kind of question as "what's the best bike?" First you have to understand what you want from it, and only then you can figure out which products can best do the job.

Armed with some more knowledge of the mosquito species in the micro-environments in my area, I bought something with picaridin, only because I want to make one more trip to the blueberry patch before the season's over. But I don't anticipate using it often. Bite Blocker works fine on everything *except* those Asian tiger mosquitoes.